Renault Zoe
 

One of my colleagues got a Renault Zoe as a courtesy car while his Megane is in service.

http://fastestlaps.com/photos/renaul...88ad3c68fa.jpg
So he took us out on a spin.

It is a small car. The room up front is adequate, in the back I touched the roof with my head (I'm just under 6').
The boot size is reasonable, quite large even for a car that size.

The interior looks a bit cheap, but the instruments are great. One broad display behind the wheel, a large touchscreen in the center and just a few knobs for the climate control; it is very easy to operate.

https://www.renault.nl/showroom/elek...b38/FOTO_1.JPG

Pushing the start-stop button lights the display, other than that nothing seems to happen (until you get it moving!)

As soon as you select reverse the center console shows the view from the rear (park assist) camera.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_pVeMsf3xh0/hqdefault.jpg

It projects straight lines on it to help you estimate what space you need when backing up, and blue curves estimating the path you'll travel in the current steering position.
When you turn the wheel the green lines bend with it.

Once on the pedal the car starts to move soundlessly. When you really push the pedal down there is a light whir from the motor, but it is drowned pretty much by the wind and tire noise. Not that those are loud - to the contrary. But the motor is that quiet.

Taking it out on the road we merged immediately behind a Tesla model S 85 :) It accelerates effortlessly, way faster than other cars in traffic (except that Tesla, of course).
Despite the storm it was rock solid on the road; firm but not uncomfortable.
The brakes are overly aggressive, takes some getting used to. Other than that, driving it is a real pleasure.

Charged full it indicates a range over 100 km (65 miles), as per my colleagues driving style. He is not a hypermiler :)
It did charge fairly quickly on our companies charging post; from 70% to full in less than an hour.
The cable plugs in into a socket hidden behind the emblem in the center of the upper 'grill'. The emblem and cable are locked/unlocked by remote control.
You can control the charging process from your smartphone.

http://myrenaultzoe.com/wp-content/u..._Renault_c.jpg

So my verdict.
It is a clever small car, a joy to drive. I could live with it.
It is much more silent and agile than my Insight.
But I like the trim in my Insight more, and the interior and boot space.
I'd be willing to compromise on that though :)

I would not trade my Insight in for a Zoe (knowing I'd have to pay a lot extra to make the deal happen), but if I lose the Insight I would definitely look for an electric car to replace it - preferably slightly larger and longer ranged than the Zoe.

Looks like a French-"logo'ed" Toyota Yaris.

Nice mini-review. Thanks for sharing.

It is slightly smaller than the Yaris on the inside, and has nothing in common with it.
Unlike the yaris smaller drivers will be able to look over the dash.
My parents looked at a Yaris Hybrid but my mum could hardly see straight ahead. They bought a jazz Hybrid ;)

AFAIK the Zoe is a one off, no sister model with other companies - not even Nissan. The Nissan Leaf is quite a lot bigger.

The Renault dealer called my colleague because they could not fix his Megane today, so he has to keep using the Zoe for yet another day. He has not stopped smiling since that.